Fans got their first look at coach Gene Chizik’s Cyclones inside Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday at the annual spring game.

The game had new faces on the sidelines and a new “offense vs. defense” format and scoring system with starters and backups rotating every series. There were a couple moments when fans needed programs to identify players, but it was some old names that lifted the offense to a 31-22 victory.

Quarterback Bret Meyer was 11-of-16 passing for 196 yards and a touchdown, while Jason Harris broke off an 81-yard touchdown run in his return to running back from safety.

Seven different receivers caught passes, and Alvin Bowen and Jon Banks led the team with seven tackles in what Chizik called a successful spring practice.

“I think we’d played pretty well,” Chizik said. “We made some mistakes, but it was good to get out there and do this in front of some fans. I’m very appreciative of everyone who came out to watch us today.”

Meyer said it was not only great to play in front of fans, but great to play in temperatures in the 50s.

“Last Saturday it was like eight or 10 degrees wind-chill out there,” Meyer said. “It was a lot more fun going out there today especially with fans in the stands.”

The offense got off to a slow start, going three-and-out on the first two series of the game before the offense managed a drive to set up a 37-yard field goal from Bret Culbertson. The offense managed to get on a roll, highlighted by Jason Harris’ 81-yard TD romp before the intermission, taking control of the game, but the defense made a bit of a “comeback” before everything was said and done, showing effort that Chizik said he loved.

“As I told the players before we went out there, the two things I don’t want anybody to be able to watch us and say is we don’t give great effort or we don’t play physical,” Chizik said. “Everybody has a question of how good we’ll be on offense, how good we’ll be on defense – those questions are still up in the air. I don’t know the answer to those. But I know that I don’t ever want to walk of the field and say somebody saw us play where we didn’t give effort or play physical.”

While Chizik was pleased with the overall effort, Meyer said there were plays left on the field that he would have liked to make.

Meyer was sacked twice, and was heavily pressured several times. Add in a few pass drops on passes from both Meyer and back-up Austen Arnaud and there was plenty of room to preach consistency.

“I felt OK today,” Meyer said. “There’s always plays you want to have back. Obviously we had two three-and-outs right away and you want to have a better start than that. We definitely need more consistency.”

Chizik was also not pleased with the sacks given up by the Cyclones. Iowa State ranked near the bottom of the league last season, giving up 38 sacks through the course of the year, making it an area of concern.

“We’re still holding on to the ball too long and we’re still giving up too many sacks,” Chizik said. “Sacks are unacceptable. You either block the guys up front or get rid of the football. We’re trying to stay out of negative plays and if we don’t, that’s very disappointing.”

The offense also had some turnover problems, fumbling at midfield, and another fumble by receiver Matt Scribbins after catching a 63-yard pass off of a deflection inside the 5-yard line.

“We turned the ball over today,” Chizik said. “That is unacceptable. You cannot win football games by putting the ball on the ground or throwing interceptions. It’s that simple.

“And defensively we gave up way too many explosive plays. Those are backbreakers.”

R.J. Sumrall had a big game for the receivers, catching six passes for 134 yards and a touchdown.

“I think I’m in a position where I can step up and contribute to the team,” Sumrall said.

“Everybody wants to be great. We want to be great. We didn’t do that great last year and we want to change that.”

According to Chizik, fans did not get to see senior receiver Todd Blythe in action because of a few minor injuries.

“This has been a very physical spring practice,” Chizik said. “Todd is such a competitor – he wanted to play – but he got banged up a little bit in our last practice and we didn’t want to risk four months of training if he were to get hurt. He could have gone today if we were getting ready to play someone, but we didn’t want to risk it.”

Fans won’t have another chance to see the team for four months until Iowa State opens the season against Kent State on August 30.